Thank you to everyone who attended tonight's OUSD Board Meeting. Though Peralta was not on the agenda, at the very end of the meeting, Board Member Rick Ledesma snuck it in, and essentially belittled our concerns and the number of people we have fighting this, saying (in so many words): Well, you've got this group of maybe 300* people, but WE have 30K students in the schools, and 50K parents. We should be telling them about our school needs and the Peralta plan. Let's do this at next week's PTA meetings. Let's hold town hall meetings. Let's put together our own "fact sheet" to inform them about this plan. It would be hypocritical of us not to communicate this information, would it not? (Editorial comment: Ledesma said he was "dumbfounded" that a couple of his colleagues were very upset that the Board didn't notify the neighborhood. Really, Rick? This is dumbfounding? Pretty common sense, we think.) Kathy Moffat said she would be ok with a fact sheet, as long as it explained both sides of the issue. Diane Singer felt a fact sheet would be premature, since nothing has been approved and everything was still very much up in the air. Ms. Moffat thought Ledesma and Surridge were trying to create a pro-development PR plan (which is spot on—they are). As a matter of fact, they’ve already posted an FAQ list on their website that makes this sound like a rosy deal – probably the same one Ledesma rather “spontaneously” suggested they distribute to PTAs and parent-teacher meetings. It would be interesting to know who authored this FAQ list. MAKE NO MISTAKE: This battle is NOT OVER. It is JUST BEGINNING. Surridge and his yes-men (like Ledesma) are going to lobby their cause to PTAs, students and anyone who will listen, making it look like a sweet deal for the schools.** Fortunately, despite Ledesma's efforts to push his PR plan through, Ms. Moffat suggested that said fact sheet be placed on an agenda to discuss its contents, to ensure it is fairly stated. (ALERT: Watch for an "emergency" or "special" meeting that will occur when most of us are unavailable to attend, per Tim Surridge's style. By the way, did you know that Rick Ledesma ran on the same ticket as Timothy Surridge, both of whom were heavily funded ($40,000) by land developer John Martin? Interesting. *We’re well above 300 people. Well above. **Lesson learned: Even when Peralta is not on the agenda, OUSD Board Members (read: Surridge, Ledesma) will try to sneak in a pro-development agenda item. WE NEED ATTENDANCE AT ALL OUSD MEETINGS. These men cannot be trusted.